Facing a potential conflict with the People's Liberation Army over the East China Sea, Japan's defense budget has reached US$41.7 billion for the fiscal year of 2015, China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times reported on Jan. 9.
Under the Mid-Term Defense Program, Japan's defense budget will rise 0.8% each year until 2018. By 2016, the defense budget of Japan is expected to exceed US$42 billion. The last time Japan's defense budget was so high was in 2002 when it reached US$41 billion under the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi. From that point the amount decreased, until Shinzo Abe began his second term as prime minister in 2012.
Read the full story at Want China Times